A very lovely story.

A very lovely story.

A farmer in ancient China had a neighbour who was a hunter, and who owned
ferocious and poorly trained hunting dogs. They jumped the fence frequently
and chased the farmer's lambs.

The farmer asked his neighbour to keep his dogs in check, but this fell on
deaf ears.

One day the dogs again jumped the fence and attacked and severely injured
several of the lambs.

The farmer had had enough, and went to town to consult a judge who listened
carefully to the story and said: "I could punish the hunter and instruct
him to keep his dogs chained or lock them up. But you would lose a friend
and gain an enemy. Which would you rather have, friend or foe for a
neighbour?"

The farmer replied that he preferred a friend!

"Al right, I will offer you a solution that keeps your lambs safe, and
which will keep your a neighbour a friend."

Having heard the judge's solution, the farmer agreed.

Once at home, the farmer immediately put the judge's suggestions to the
test. He took three of his best lambs and presented them to his neighbour's
three small sons, who were beside themselves with joy and began to play
with them. To protect his sons' newly acquired playthings, the hunter built
a strong kennel for his dogs. Since then, the dogs never again bothered the
farmer's lambs.

Out of gratitude for the farmer's generosity toward his sons, the hunter
often shared the game he had hunted with the farmer. The farmer
reciprocated by sending the hunter lamb meat and cheese he had made. Within
a short time the neighbours became good friends.

A saying in old China went something like this: One can win over and
influence people the best with gestures of kindness and compassion.

A similar American saying: One catches more flies with honey than with
vinegar!!